I didn't want to clog up the TZ Owner's Thread, so why not start a new one to address some fun I'm having with TZ. I know I'm not the only person who has experienced issues with TZ, and I've seen some posts on this forum and via some Google searches related to some issues. I'm hoping to receive some help and suggestions, and also have it documented for future searches can find the info that could help them.

I purchased TZ about a month ago, and I'll say that I am starting to learn more about the build of TZ than the gameplay.

Upon purchasing, I knew that the Upper Right Flipper flasher was 'stuck on', and the Slot Kickout recently stopped ejecting. I fixed the Slot Kickout by replacing it with the "Slot Scoop kicker kit" from Marco's for $40. I'll go more into the U.R. Flipper flasher below.

So after becoming more familiar, and in figuring out what lamps, flashers, switches, and coils are supposed to fire, and spending some time in the Test Menu, I've noticed that I have some things to figure out. I'm hoping to get some feedback and help for diagnosing and remediating some issues I'm experiencing.

Issues I'm experiencing:

• Upper Right Flipper Flasher (37) ‘locked on’

When I purchased this pin, I knew that this issue was being experienced by the seller, and he never got around to resolving the issue, but simply removed the incandescent 906 bulb from underneath the plastic covering it. After doing some research, I tested the transistors on the ‘8-Driver PCB” board (A-16100) using a digital multi-meter. I found that transistor Q8 tested bad. I replaced Q8 with a new 2N4403, and decided to replace transistor Q16 down the line with a new TIP-102 type transistor. I checked the fuses, reseated the ribbon cable and other cable connectors to the board.

After replacing the two transistors, I installed a #906 LED bulb into the socket, and all appeared to be working again! Then I played maybe 20 games, the flasher would stay on, then function, and now will no longer come on at all. No flashing/blinking, no solid on….just ‘off’.

I’m wondering the next step. Do I replace the entire A-16100 board? Are there other cable connections to check?

• Upper Right Ramp Flasher (41) ‘locked on’

While running through the Flasher Tests, after checking #37, the next in line was #41, so why not test it. I noticed it was a little dark as of late in the upper right corner of the PF during gameplay, but figured I was just having a subpar game. Running the flasher test, this specific flasher would no longer light, which was weird as it had always passed in past tests.

I removed the red flash lamp dome, and thought I’d try reseating the LED bulb. Upon removing the bulb, the LED lamp section came apart from the housing in the socket, and after removing the socket, it looks like the bulb section separated because it melted apart! For a quick test, I inserted a new 906 LED into the flasher, turned on the game, and the flasher immediately became ‘locked on’. No bueno. I turned off the game, lifted the PF, and tried reconnecting cable connections and looking at solder connections inline. After another attempt of turning the game back on, the flasher was still locked on. So I removed the LED bulb and when removing, I noticed how hot it was to the touch.

ANOTHER locked on flasher bulb! This makes me wonder if replacing the entire A-16100 board would be more efficient and a better idea than simply replacing a few transistors. Which then leads me to believe there may be a bigger problem that I’m just not knowledgeable enough to recognize. What’s causing these flashers to turn on and stay locked?

• Left Ramp Switch (54) will not ‘close’

This issue appeared about the same time as when the Upper Right Ramp Flasher (41) appeared ‘locked on’, and I know it was working until then. Interesting to me, as they are located in approximately the same area. Coincidence?

Turning on the game, I receive the heavenly error “Ding Ding” Test Report display, which reads “Check Switch 54 Left Ramp”. Navigating the Test Menu to the Single Switch mode, I test switch 54 (WHT-YEL GRN-BLK), located in the back right corner of the PF on the Left Ramp, and when manually/physically closing the switch, the test remains ‘open’ and will not ‘close’ when activated by ball or finger.

I looked at the solder points where the wires connect to the switch, appear connected. I lifter the PF and reconnected the molex connectors and did a visual check on the wires, seemed okay. I did not see any blown fuse.

Where/what else to investigate? Do I need to replace the physical switch mechanism? Try resoldering the connection points?

• Lamps lighting when they should not be

As a note, with a previous owner, this TZ was upgraded with LEDs on the PF, flashers, and backbox.
I noticed that during gameplay, the little yellow light next to the slot machine (lamp 85) would flicker, and turn off/on randomly. Same type of behavior with the red lamp on the Right Lane Gumball sign (lamp 86). I reseated the LED lamp bulbs, lifter the PF, checked connection, and could not see anything obvious. So I thought I’d map out the lamp matrix and see which lamp(s) come on when, and seek advice on how to proceed.

When performing the T.8 ‘Single Lamp’ test, I noticed that when going through each individual lamp to test (there’s a lot), that some specific lamps would light up when it was NOT their turn and they were not supposed to light. I found it interesting that lamp 85 seemed to be almost always lit, and some of the patterns of which lamps are lit when some other lamp is selected. What does this mean? Why does lamp 55 light up when other lamps in the 50’s are selected? Why does lamp 62 light up when some lamps in the 60’s are selected? And why, when any of the lamps in the 80’s are selected, that only that specific lamp lights up but nothing else (which is the expected behavior)?

My findings are attached below as a JPEG picture. I used the original lamp matrix table as a template. It can be assumed that when the specific lamp was selected, it would light up, and holds true for all. The additional lamps that would light when not selected are notated in bold at the bottom of the cell. RR stands for the Robby the Robot mod installed over the Left Ramp entrance.

• Lower Right Flipper Coil ‘hold’ failing

One of the things the previous owner confirmed were the fairly new lower flippers. Figuring I’m running through test menus, why not test the flippers.

When in test menu T.12 “Flipper Coil”, the Lower Right Flipper displays the expected flip action on Test 01, but when performing the ‘Hold” test 02, it displays a very weak pulse. Comparing the expected action with that of the Lower Left Flipper, I sense that there is some type of underlying issue. During gameplay, I really don’t notice an issue as I am able to cradle hold the ball on the Lower Right Flipper, but during the test, the “Hold” test causes a very slight pulse, and does not move the flipper into the “hold the ball in cradle” position.

Any suggestions on what to check for and look into for diagnosing?

I appreciate the time it took for you to read the above novel, and any suggestions or known fixes some of you may know or have experienced.
Let me know if any additional information is needed, or pics to give a visual.

Thanks,
Drew

Thanks!

I'm hoping to link up with my neighbor "Flipper_Fiend" (Steve) when our schedules match up to take a look. I was hopping to get some of the low lying fruit taken care of prior to taking up anyone's time, so that he/they can help troubleshoot some of the more complicated, non-obvious issues that I'm more oblivious to. I understand how valuable people's time is.

I'm hoping to get out to my garagecade tonight with my multimeter to check out the transistors on the ‘8-Driver PCB” board (A-16100)....again. I 'thought' I resolved the Upper Right Flipper flasher previously, as it was working, but an issue seems to have arisen again. I'm beginning to suspect there may be an underlying issue at play causing the two flashers to lock on.

I'll also use the multimeter to to check out the Left Ramp switch that doesn't seem to 'close'.

Any tips or advice for where to begin with the lamp issue mentioned above, for multiple lamps turning on during the single lamps tests?

I attached an image of my lamp test findings in my original post, I wonder why it isn't showing....let's try this again.

TZLampTestResults (resized).JPG

**From original Post**
"I used the original lamp matrix table as a template. It can be assumed that when the specific lamp was selected, it would light up, and holds true for all. The additional lamps that would light when not selected are notated in bold at the bottom of the cell. RR stands for the Robby the Robot mod installed over the Left Ramp entrance."

Spent a little more time investigating the "Single Lamp" findings issue, all cables and ribbon connections were removed from the CPU board, wires pushed back into the cheap punch down connectors to verify connectivity, and reconnected to verify they were indeed connected to the CPU board correctly. Doing this had an effect on the Lamp Matrix findings:

TZLampTestResults_3-22 (resized).JPG

Lamp 35 "Left Inlane 2" lamp will not light up (in RED), lamp 85 "Slot Machine" seems to light up for just about all lamps (except for those in GREEN), and lamps in Column 3 and 8 and Row 5 appear to test as expected with the exception of #35. I'm wondering if there is something going on with lamps 35 and/or 85.

Yeah, I disconnected the RR mod's clips from the source they connected to last night, and it no longer lights up (as expected), and it looks as if lamp 82 (Clock Millions) does not light up with the lights it did in conjunction with the RR mod...but 85 (slot machine) still lights with almost all others.

Thx for the suggestion

For the transistors to check listed above, if not blown, would I want to see a reading in the range of 0.4 - 0.6?
What about the diodes in line, what range would be an acceptable reading? Same 0.4 - 0.6?

Continued thanks......

Soooooo........

I removed the 8-Driver PCB board (A-16100) to test the transistors to check if a blown transistors were causing the Upper Right Flipper flasher (37) and Upper Right Ramp flasher (41) to 'lock on'. All of the transistors tested back good, having readings within the 0.4 - 0.7 range. Having the board already out, I figured to test all the transistors, resistors, and diodes. All readings for each type were fairly close to the others, with no reading being an anomaly far off from others that tested for the same type.
Back to the drawing board, and to figure out what to troubleshoot next for the two malfunctioning flashers.

Moving on to the troubleshooting of the multiple lamps lighting up during the Single Lamp test, I followed the suggestion of dsuperbee above in Post #13 and tested transistors Q86, Q91, and Q96, along with the diodes in the same rows/columns. To do this, I had to remove the entire WPC Power Driver Assembly board. Seeing what was visible in the backbox while the board was mounted, I could tell that the board had previously been worked on, as I could see that Q54, U3, R1, R2, R93, among some others had been replaced.

IMG_9478 (resized).JPG

Once the board was unmounted and out of the backbox, I flipped it over, and saw this:
IMG_9477 (resized).JPG

Looking at the back of the board, I can see that it's definitely had some work done to it. Using wires to jump to other components on the board, some soders that look a little suspect, etc.

On to testing the transistors Q86, Q91, and Q96. The readings for Q86 came back as good, but the readings for Q91 - Q98 were ALL bad. Looks like all those transistors are no good. With the condition of this board, and 8 transistors testing as bad, I'm thinking of starting anew and buying an entire new board, which makes me cringe a little knowing that it is the expensive board to replace.

I'm starting to think that I'm going down the road of purchasing new Rottendog boards to replace the WPC Power Driver Assembly board, the 8-Driver PCB Assembly board, and the WPC CPU board to have a fresh start and work with new, known good boards.

The wife's gonna love me now.....

Thanks everyone for their continued suggestions. I'll take some more cracks at this when some time frees up, and I'm able to try some of the above. I'll report back...

OK, finally had some time to test out based on the above suggestions regarding my lamp test and the multiple lamps lighting up when performing the Single Lamp Test, along with the "Repairing Williams/Bally WPC Pinball Games from 1990 to 1999" guide. Before I began, I replace the Power Driver board with a Rottendog I just purchased.

I've tested the lamp columns on J137, and the test lamp flashes for every column.
I've tested the lamp rows on J133, and the test lamp flashes for every row.

Not a single column or row failed to light when tested going between each and every pin. This is leading me to believe the issue may be under the PF with wiring or diodes. I'm going to start checking under there, but wondering if anyone has any suggestions for what to specifically check? I'm going to look at solder connections, maybe diodes?

I'm open for any ideas that come my way. Thanks!!!

UPDATE #1: I unplugged the Slot Machine lamp (#85), and all single lamp tests are successful with no other lamps lighting up. While the Slot Machine lamp was unplugged, I removed the plastic and the entire lamp socket itself. I decided to unsolder the corresponding wires from the socket, cleaned it up, and resoldered the wires and a new 1N4001 diode to the socket. After reassembling the socket and plastic to the PF, I fired the machine up, and the same behavior persists.

UPDATE #2:

Thinking that something may be going on with the wiring for the Yellow wires that lead to the Slot Machine lamp #85, I went to each lamp in that column, and checked the diodes. All the diodes connected to the lamps tested as good. While testing each diode, I inspected all the solders, and I didn't see any loose or separated wires from the lamp sockets.
On to the next thing, I disconnected the J137 connector from the Power Driver Board, and removed the Yellow wires from the connector, then used a punch tool to reseat the wires. Doing this did not change the resulted outcome. I'm wondering if I should now re-punchdown the J133 connector with the red and colored-stripe wires to make sure the rows are sufficiently punched down?

During the checking of lamp #81 (Left Spiral), I noticed that the wires and solder were extremely close to, if not touching, the screw that holds down the lamp socket to the PF. I tested the diode, which was successful, and I wanted to move the yellow wire onto the other side of the screw to avoid the contact. In removing the lamp socket from the PF, one of the socket connection brackets broke off. Oh well, time to replace the socket, not a huge deal. But what's interesting is that when I turn the game back on without Lamp #81 connected to anything, all the lamps in Lamp Matrix Row 1 now light up by themselves, with no other lamps turning on. The commonality for this row is the Red-Brown wire in Row 1. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm beginning to believe the issue is related to the Yellow-Gray wire in Column 8, as this is the wire that was taken out of the equation in this instance.

The Single Lamp Test troubles continue.

On a better note, I was able to get the Left Inlane 2 (#35) lamp to light up again. I removed the LED bulbs from each of the Left Inlane lamps and swapped them with each other to test if it was bulb related, and also removed the board that these lamps belong to, testing the 3 diodes on the board, and all tested good. After reconnecting the board, the Left Inlane 1 and the Left Inlane 2 lamps were both lighting up as they should.

For the issues of the Upper Right Flipper Flasher (#37) and Upper Right Ramp Flasher (#41) being 'locked on', replacing the 8-Driver PCB board with a new Rottendog board, and replacing the flasher bulbs with new #906 LEDs, both flashers are now functioning correctly in the flasher test. Fingers crossed that this is what the issue ended up being.

It currently has LED. I switched it out with an incandescent, and the slot machine lamp only lights when called upon, but other lamps light in pairs. Switching out with another LED doesn't seem to change much.

The best result, with every lamp lighting as it should, is by either having no bulb in the slot machine socket, or disconnecting the molex connection under the PF for the slot machine lamp.

Wonder if I should try a new lamp socket next?

I believe this problem was inherited with the purchase. The only thing I have done under the PF so far since purchase (besides the troubleshooting I've mentioned in this thread) is replace the Slot Machine Kick out assembly, which leverages different wire pairs.

I'm attaching a picture of the area under the PF.

IMG_9782 (resized).JPG

IMG_9783 (resized).JPG

I made some notes using the Lamp Matrix as a template above in Post #12 of this thread. You can ignore the red #35 lamp, as this is now working.

What plug on the coin interface board should I unplug?

IMG_9784 (resized).JPG

Attached is the lamp matrix results when J135 and J136 are disconnected from the Power Driver Board, and an incandescent bulb inserted into the Slot Machine lamp.

Screen Shot 2017-05-05 at 9.55.08 AM (resized).png

Sorry guys, just noticed that this thread had some new replies.

Thanks for the additional feedback. Once family life slows down a bit and I can find some dedicated time to dive in, I follow the new suggestions and report back.

Appreciate the assists!